Building containers of uncategorized items

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems to build containers of uncategorized items are described. In some example embodiments, the methods and systems collect information from titles of items available for purchase within a network-based publication system, generate a title for a container of uncategorized items available for purchase within the network-based publication system that is based on the collected information, and associate two or more uncategorized items available for purchase within the network-based publication system to the container based on a comparison of titles of the two or more uncategorized items and the generated title for the container of uncategorized items.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 61/683,070, filed on Aug. 14, 2012, entitled BUILDING CONTAINERS OFUNCATEGORIZED ITEMS, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/776,222, filed on Mar. 11, 2013, entitled DISPLAYING SEARCH RESULTLISTINGS ASSOCIATED WITH CONTAINERS OF ITEMS, which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates generally to information retrieval and,specifically, to displaying or presenting information associated withcontainers of products.

BACKGROUND

General merchandising of items for sale via a network-basedmerchandising system is well-known. Many websites accessible via theInternet are operated as online stores or auctions. These websitesenable users to purchase items that may be physical items (e.g., anarticle of clothing), electronic data items (e.g., a downloadabledigital media product), or services to be rendered by an affiliatedservice provider. These websites provide many different products forpurchase, including products of similar or identical items.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present technology is illustrated by way of example, and not by wayof limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a display diagram illustrating an example container pagewithin a publication system, in some example embodiments.

FIG. 1B is a display diagram illustrating an example mobile-basedcontainer page within a publication system, in some example embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a network architecture of asuitable computing environment for building and providing containers andcontainer pages, in some example embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a publication system of availableproducts, in some example embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a container generation engine, insome example embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for building a containerof uncategorized items, in some example embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for linking containers ofuncategorized items, in some example embodiments.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are display diagrams illustrating product pages for acontainer of uncategorized items, in some example embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a container listing engine, insome example embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for satisfying a searchquery with a container result, in some example embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for selecting anuncategorized item to display within results of a query, in some exampleembodiments.

FIG. 11 is a display diagram illustrating a product results page thatincludes a listing associated with a container of uncategorized items,in some example embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a network architecture of asuitable computing environment for building and displaying containers ofuncategorized items at multiple networked locations, in some exampleembodiments.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an item aggregation system, insome example embodiments.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for publishing a listingof available items, in some example embodiments.

FIG. 15 is a display diagram illustrating a results page that includes alisting associated with a container of uncategorized items from multiplenetworked locations, in some example embodiments.

FIG. 16 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exampleform of a computer system within which a set of instructions may beexecuted to cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

Methods and systems to build containers of uncategorized items aredescribed. In some example embodiments, the methods and systems enable apublication system to generate and maintain a dedicated product displaypage for a container of uncategorized, uncataloged or unlisted products,such as a dynamically changing inventory of uncategorized products. Theproduct display page may provide information about products or itemsassociated with a container as well as facilitate the purchase ofavailable products via the product display page.

In some example embodiments, the methods and systems collect informationfrom titles of items available for purchase within a network-basedpublication system, generate a title for a container of uncategorizeditems available for purchase within the network-based publication systemthat is based on the collected information, and associate two or moreuncategorized items available for purchase within the network-basedpublication system to the container based on a comparison of titles ofthe two or more uncategorized items and the generated title for thecontainer of uncategorized items.

For example, FIG. 1A is a display diagram illustrating an examplecontainer page 100 within a publication system, in some exampleembodiments. The container page 100, which may be a product purchasepage published by the publication system, may be associated with auniform resource locator (URL) 102 that includes a title for a containerrepresented by the container page 100. The container page 100 maydisplay various user interface (UI) elements and other information foritems associated with the container, such as uncategorized itemsavailable for purchase within the publication system that are associatedwith the container.

The container page 100 includes graphical UI elements for variousdifferent items associated with the container entitled “Chaucer 1^(st)Canterbury Tales,” such as a graphical element 104 that presents productdescription information for an associated item entitled “1^(st) editionChaucer,” a graphical element 106 that presents product descriptioninformation for an associated item entitled “Canterbury Tales Good,” anda graphical element 108 that presents product description informationfor an associated item entitled “Chaucer Tales Good Condition.”

The container page 100 also includes a graphical element 110 for afeatured item that is associated with the container. The graphicalelement 110 displays an image 112 for the featured item title 114 forthe featured item (“Classic Chaucer Canterbury Tales Vintage 1^(st)”),and an element 116 that presents product description information for thefeatured item, such as condition information, pricing information, andso on. Additionally, the element 116 includes various user-selectableelements that facilitate a purchase, order, or other action associatedwith purchasing the featured item 114, such as a user-selectable element118 that, when selected, facilitates a direct purchase of the featureditem 114, a user-selectable element 119 that, when selected, facilitatesthe addition of the item to an online shopping cart provided by thepublication system, and so on. The container page may also display otherelements, such as an element 120 that, when selected, causes the displayof description information for other items associated with thecontainer, among other things.

FIG. 1B is a display diagram illustrating an example mobile-basedcontainer page 150 within a publication system, in some exampleembodiments. The mobile-based container page 150 may be configured todisplay a container-based product purchase page for a container. Forexample, the mobile-based container page 150 may display the title ofthe container (“Canterbury Tales 1^(st) Edition”), a graphical element162 identifying items available for purchase that are associated withthe container, a user-selectable element that, when selected, causes themobile-based container page 150 to display additional information, andproduct description information for various items available for purchasewithin a publication system that are associated with the container. Forexample, the mobile-based container page 150 may present auser-selectable graphical element 170 that displays product descriptioninformation for an item entitled “Classic Chaucer Canterbury TalesVintage 1^(st),” a user-selectable graphical element 172 that displaysproduct description information for an item entitled “1^(st) EditionChaucer,” and a user-selectable graphical element 174 that displaysproduct description information for an item entitled “Chaucer Tales GoodCondition,” among other things.

Thus, in some example embodiments, the methods and systems describedherein enable a publication system to maintain, present, and/or publisha product display page or purchase page for a dynamically changing setof similar products or items, enabling the publication system tomaintain a dedicated page for a certain category of products whoseinventory changes over time, among other benefits.

Suitable System

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present disclosure. It may be evident, however, toone skilled in the art that the subject matter of the present disclosuremay be practiced without these specific details.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a network architecture of asystem 200 used to build containers of uncategorized items, in someexample embodiments. For example, the network system 200 may be apublication/publisher system 202 where clients may communicate andexchange data within the network system 200. The data may pertain tovarious functions (e.g., selling and purchasing of items) and aspects(e.g., data describing items listed on the publication/publisher system)associated with the network system 200 and its users. Althoughillustrated herein as a client-server architecture as an example, otherexample embodiments may include other network architectures, such as apeer-to-peer or distributed network environment.

A data exchange platform, in an example form of a network-basedpublisher 202, may provide server-side functionality via a network 204(e.g., the Internet) to one or more clients. The one or more clients mayinclude users that utilize the network system 200 and more specifically,the network-based publisher 202, to exchange data over the network 214.These transactions may include transmitting, receiving (communicating)and processing data to, from, and regarding content and users of thenetwork system 200. The data may include, but are not limited to,content and user data such as feedback data; user reputation values;user profiles; user attributes; product and service reviews; product,service, manufacturer, and vendor recommendations and identifiers;product and service listings associated with buyers and sellers; auctionbids; and transaction data, among other things.

In various embodiments, the data exchanges within the network system 200may be dependent upon user-selected functions available through one ormore client or user interfaces (UIs). The UIs may be associated with aclient machine, such as a client machine 206 using a web client 210. Theweb client 210 may be in communication with the network-based publisher202 via a web server 220. The UIs may also be associated with a clientmachine 208 using a programmatic client 212, such as a clientapplication, or a third party server 214 hosting a third partyapplication 216. It can be appreciated in various embodiments the clientmachine 206, 208, or third party application 214 may be associated witha buyer, a seller, a third party electronic commerce platform, a paymentservice provider, or a shipping service provider, each in communicationwith the network-based publisher 202 and optionally each other. Thebuyers and sellers may be any one of individuals, merchants, or serviceproviders, among other things.

Turning to the network-based publisher 202, an application programinterface (API) server 218 and a web server 220 are coupled to, andprovide programmatic and web interfaces respectively to, one or moreapplication servers 222. The application servers 222 host one or morepublication application (s) 224. The application servers 222 are, inturn, shown to be coupled to one or more database server(s) 226 thatfacilitate access to one or more database(s) 228.

In some example embodiments, the web server 220 and the API server 218communicate and receive data pertaining to listings, transactions, andfeedback, among other things, via various user input tools. For example,the web server 220 may send and receive data to and from a toolbar orwebpage on a browser application (e.g., web client 210) operating on aclient machine (e.g., client machine 206). The API server 218 may sendand receive data to and from an application (e.g., client application212 or third party application 216) running on another client machine(e.g., client machine 208 or third party server 214).

The publication application(s) 224 may provide a number of publisherfunctions and services (e.g., search, listing, payment, etc.) to usersthat access the network-based publisher 202. For example, thepublication application(s) 224 may provide a number of services andfunctions to users for listing goods and/or services for sale, searchingfor goods and services, facilitating transactions, and reviewing andproviding feedback about transactions and associated users.Additionally, the publication application(s) 224 may track and storedata and metadata relating to listings, transactions, and userinteractions with the network-based publisher 202.

FIG. 2 also illustrates a third party application 216 that may executeon a third party server 214 and may have programmatic access to thenetwork-based publisher 202 via the programmatic interface provided bythe API server 218. For example, the third party application 216 may useinformation retrieved from the network-based publisher 202 to supportone or more features or functions on a website hosted by the thirdparty. The third party website may, for example, provide one or morelisting, feedback, publisher or payment functions that are supported bythe relevant applications of the network-based publisher 202.

While the example network system 200 of FIG. 2 employs a client-serverarchitecture, a skilled artisan will recognize that the presentdisclosure is not limited to such an architecture. The example networkarchitecture 200 can equally well find application in, for example, adistributed or peer-to-peer architecture system.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an example block diagram illustrating multiplecomponents that, in some example embodiments, are provided within thepublication system 202 of the networked system 200 is shown. Thepublication system 202 may be hosted on dedicated or shared servermachines (not shown) that are communicatively coupled to enablecommunications between the server machines. The multiple components,themselves, are communicatively coupled (e.g., via appropriateinterfaces), either directly or indirectly, to each other and to variousdata sources, to allow information to be passed between the componentsor to allow the components to share and access common data. Furthermore,the components may access the one or more database(s) 228 via the one ormore database servers 226, both shown in FIG. 2.

In some example embodiments, the publication system 202 comprises anetwork-based marketplace and provides a number of publishing, listing,and price-setting mechanisms whereby a seller (e.g., business orconsumer) may list (or publish information concerning) goods or servicesfor sale, a buyer can search for, express interest in, or indicate adesire to purchase such goods or services, and a price can be set for atransaction pertaining to the goods or services. To this end, thepublication system 202 may comprise at least one publication engine 302and one or more selling engines 304.

The publication engine 302 may publish information, such as itemlistings, product description pages, and/or container pages, on thepublication system 302. In some example embodiments, the selling engines304 may comprise one or more auction engines that support auction-formatlisting and price setting mechanisms (e.g., English, Dutch, Chinese,Double, Reverse auctions, and so on). The various auction engines mayalso provide a number of features in support of these auction-formatlistings, such as a reserve price feature whereby a seller may specify areserve price in connection with a listing and a proxy-bidding featurewhereby a bidder may invoke automated proxy bidding.

A listing engine 306 allows sellers to conveniently author listings ofitems or authors to author publications. In some example embodiments,the listings pertain to goods or services that a user (e.g., a seller)wishes to transact via the publication system 202. Each good or serviceis associated with a particular category. The listing engine 306 mayreceive listing data such as title, description, and aspect name/valuepairs. Furthermore, each listing for a good or service may be assignedan item identifier. In some example embodiments, a user may create alisting that is an advertisement or other form of informationpublication. The listing information may then be stored to one or morestorage devices coupled to the publication system 202 (e.g., databases228). Listings also may comprise product description pages that displaya product and information (e.g., product title, specifications, reviews,and so on) associated with the product. In some example embodiments, theproduct description page may include an aggregation of item listingsthat correspond to the product described on the product descriptionpage.

Searching the network-based publication system 202 is facilitated by asearching engine 308. For example, the searching engine 308 enableskeyword queries of listings published via the publication system 202. Insome example embodiments, the searching engine 308 receives the keywordqueries from a computing device associated with a user and conducts areview of the storage device storing the listing information. The reviewwill enable compilation of a result set of listings that may be sortedand returned to the client device (e.g., client device 206) of the user.The searching engine 308 may record the query (e.g., keywords) and anysubsequent user actions and behaviors (e.g., navigations).

In a further example, a navigation engine 310 allows users to navigatethrough various categories, catalogs, or inventory data structuresaccording to which listings may be classified within the publicationsystem 202. For example, the navigation engine 310 allows a user tosuccessively navigate down a category tree comprising a hierarchy ofcategories until a particular set of listings is reached. Various othernavigation applications within the navigation engine 310 may be providedto supplement the searching and browsing applications. The navigationengine 310 may record the various user actions (e.g., clicks) performedby the user in order to navigate down the category tree.

In some example embodiments, a container engine 312 may generate,create, and/or select a container in which to associate one or moreitems, such as uncategorized products within the publication system 202.The container engine 312 may generate a container and/or a title for acontainer based on received search queries, based on titles of productswithin or previously within the publication system 202, and so on. Forexample, the container engine 312 may include a container generationengine 320 that is configured to build containers and generate titlesfor containers, a container listing engine 330 that is configured toreturn container-based results to search queries received by thepublication system 202, and a container page engine 340 that isconfigured to cause a container-based product purchase page (e.g., page100 or 150) to be displayed by the publication system 202, among otherthings.

For example, the container page engine 340 may generate a productdisplay page, product description page, and/or a product purchase pagefor a container, such as pages 100 and/or 150. The generated page mayinclude descriptions of some or all of the products or items associatedwith the container, and may facilitate the selection, bidding on, and/orpurchase of products via the generated page. Furthermore, the generatedpage may include information or links to other pages, such as pagesassociated with or otherwise linked to containers that include productssimilar to the displayed products. Further details regardingcontainer-based product display pages are described herein.

Although the various components of the publication system 202 have beendiscussed in terms of a variety of individual modules and engines, askilled artisan will recognize that many of the components can becombined or organized in other ways. Furthermore, not all components ofthe publication system 202 have been included in FIG. 3. In general,components, protocols, structures, and techniques not directly relatedto functions of example embodiments (e.g., dispute resolution engine,loyalty promotion engine, reputation engines, listing managementengines, account engine) have not been shown or discussed in detail. Thedescription given herein simply provides a variety of exampleembodiments to aid the reader in an understanding of the systems andmethods used herein.

Examples of Building Containers of Uncategorized Items

As described herein, in some example embodiments, the methods andsystems may generate and/or select containers based on natural searchqueries and/or titles of products within the publication system 202, andprovide, generate, render, or otherwise publish product display pagesfor each of the containers. The publication system 202, therefore, maymaintain and display a product display page for a container ofuncategorized items. The systems and methods described herein mayfacilitate the selection of containers, the titling of containers, theclustering of items, the association of clusters, and so on.

Thus, the container engine 212, via the container generation engine 320,may associate and/or cluster current and/or future products or itemsavailable for purchase within the publication system 212 into one ormore containers, which may enable the publication system 202 to maintainthe containers while an inventory of products or items associated withthe containers changes over time.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the container generation engine320, in some example embodiments. As illustrated in FIG. 4, thecontainer generation engine 320 includes a variety of functionalmodules. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the functionalmodules are implemented with a combination of software (e.g., executableinstructions, or computer code) and hardware (e.g., at least a memoryand processor). Accordingly, as used herein, in some example embodimentsa module is a processor-implemented module and represents a computingdevice having a processor that is at least temporarily configured and/orprogrammed by executable instructions stored in memory to perform one ormore of the particular functions that are described herein. Referring toFIG. 4, the container generation engine 320 includes a title informationmodule 410, a title determination module 420, an item association module430, a container linking module 440, and a container page module 450.

In some example embodiments, the title information module 410 isconfigured and/or programmed to collect information from titles of itemsavailable for purchase within the network-based publication system 202.For example, the title information module 410 may build a dictionary oftitles from the titles of items available for purchase within thenetwork-based publication system 202 and/or from contents (e.g.,keywords) of search queries received by the network-based publicationsystem 202, and/or titles or search queries at titles of items availablefor purchase at multiple network-based publication systems, among otherlocations.

For example, when selecting container titles, the title informationmodule 410 may build a title corpus of natural search queries to thepublication system 202 (e.g., an online retailer or broker) and/or oftitles listed by the publication system 202 for products or itemsavailable for purchase via the publication system 202. For each title,the title information module 410 may remove or ignore noise words (e.g.,“the”) based on low probability tokens of a broad match result set forthe title. The title information module 410 may then build a corpus offiltered titles that is based on titles of available products, keywordswithin search queries, and so on.

In some example embodiments, the title determination module 420 isconfigured and/or programmed to generate or otherwise determine a titlefor a container of uncategorized items available for purchase within thenetwork-based publication system 202 that is based on the collectedinformation. The title determination module 420 may generate titlesbased on contents of search queries received by the network-basedpublication system 202 and/or based on the titles of items available forpurchase within the network-based publication system 202, based on anumber of uncategorized items available for purchase to be associated tothe container, and so on.

For example, the title determination module 420 may generate a titlethat is specific enough to be associated with multiple homogeneouslistings of a specific item, irrespective of theseller/format/price/condition of the items. For example, “PUR DS 1800Z 2Stage Water Dispenser,” may be a generated title for a containerassociated with a specific water dispenser available for purchase withinthe publication system 202 that is represented by multiple similarproduct listings within the publication system 202.

When selecting an order of the words of a container title, the titledetermination module 420 may utilize a majority word order or othertechniques for normalized title equivalents. In some exampleembodiments, the title determination module 420 may select words and/orword order for titles in order to target a certain level of traffic(e.g., item or page view traffic), and may rate or rank titles based ona variety of factors, including a probability of maintaining thecontainer over a certain time period, a number of items that may matchthe title, and so on.

For example, the title determination module 420 may generate a title forthe container that is based on, but different than, the titles of theitems available for purchase within the network-based publication system202, such as a title that shares a certain number of words with varioustitles of the items available for purchase.

In some example embodiments, the item association module 430 isconfigured and/or programmed to associate one or more uncategorizeditems available for purchase within the network-based publication system202 to the container based on a comparison of titles of theuncategorized items and the generated title for the container ofuncategorized items. The item association module 430 may associate anuncategorized item to the container when a title for the uncategorizeditem includes a number of token words that match words of the generatedtitle for the container that is above a threshold number for associatingitems to containers, and/or may associate an uncategorized item to thecontainer when a percentage of token words of a title for theuncategorized item matching words of the generated title for thecontainer is above a threshold percentage for associating items tocontainers, among other things.

For example, when mapping or otherwise associating items/products tocontainers, the item association module 430 may build a vocabulary setthat contains all words from all the generated titles, storinginformation identifying a frequency of occurrence for each word of thetitles. Given an item entitled “Laser Gun Target Practice Shooting ToyDesk LCD Alarm Recordable Clock Novelty,” the item association module430 may filter noise or non-product descriptive words (e.g., Practice,Recordable, Novelty, and Desk) and map the title to a generatedcontainer title, such as “Laser Target Gun Alarm Clock LCD Toy” usingthe dictionary.

In some example embodiments, when the title of an item matches manycontainer titles, the item association module 430 may rank each of thecontainer titles, such as by using an inverse frequency of comparedwords as a ranking factor, and map the title of the item to the bestmatched container title.

In some example embodiments, the item association module 430 may utilizemeta-specific language models, best match algorithms or other selectionalgorithms to map items to containers, among other techniques.

Thus, as described herein, the container generation engine 320 mayperform various methods or processes when building containers of itemsavailable for purchase within a publication system 202, among otherthings. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 500 for buildinga container of uncategorized items, in some example embodiments. Themethod 500 may be performed by the container generation engine 320 and,accordingly, is described herein merely by way of reference thereto. Itwill be appreciated that the method 500 may be performed on any suitablehardware.

In operation 510, the container generation engine 320 collectsinformation from titles of items available for purchase within thenetwork-based publication system 202. For example, the title informationmodule 410 may build a dictionary of titles from the titles of itemsavailable for purchase within the network-based publication system 202and/or from contents (e.g., keywords) of search queries received by thenetwork-based publication system 202, and/or titles or search queries attitles of items available for purchase at multiple network-basedpublication systems, among other locations.

In operation 520, the container generation engine 320 generates a titlefor a container of uncategorized items available for purchase within thenetwork-based publication system 202 that is based on the collectedinformation. For example, the title determination module 420 maygenerate titles based on contents of search queries received by thenetwork-based publication system 202 and/or based on the titles of itemsavailable for purchase within the network-based publication system 202,based on a number of uncategorized items available for purchase to beassociated to the container, and so on.

In operation 530, the container generation engine 320 associates two ormore uncategorized items available for purchase within the network-basedpublication system 202 to the container based on a comparison of titlesof the two or more uncategorized items and the generated title for thecontainer of uncategorized items. For example, the item associationmodule 430 may associate an uncategorized item to the container when atitle for the uncategorized item includes a number of token words thatmatch words of the generated title for the container that is above athreshold number for associating items to containers, and/or mayassociate an uncategorized item to the container when a percentage oftoken words of a title for the uncategorized item matching words of thegenerated title for the container is above a threshold percentage forassociating items to containers, among other things.

Referring back to FIG. 4, in some example embodiments, the containerlinking module 440 is configured and/or programmed to link and/orassociate the container to a second container within the network-basedpublication system 202 based on a comparison of titles of the containerand the second container.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 600 for linkingcontainers of uncategorized items, in some example embodiments. Themethod 600 may be performed by the container generation engine 320 and,accordingly, is described herein merely by way of reference thereto. Itwill be appreciated that the method 600 may be performed on any suitablehardware.

In operation 610, the container generation engine 320 may analyze useractivities within the publication system 202. For example, the containerlinking module 440 may mine site session data within the publicationsystem 202 to find pairs of containers visited in a single user session,and count all pairs of container titles visited in a session. Forexample, session data may indicate a User A visits container pages forshoes, shirts, and iPods®, and a User B visits container pages forshoes, shirts, and belts.

In operation 620, the container generation engine 320 may identifyco-occurrences of container titles within the analyzed activities. Forexample, the container linking module 440 may count the co-occurrencesof shoes and shirts during the user session.

In operation 630, the container generation engine 320 may link thecontainer titles based on the identified co-occurrences. For example,the container linking module 440 may link all paired container titles intheir container-based product purchase pages and/or otherwise associatethe container titles during various actions (e.g., displaying of pages,presentation of search results, and so on) within the publication system202.

Referring back to FIG. 4, in some example embodiments, the containerpage module 450 is configured and/or programmed to cause a display of acontainer-based product purchase page within the network-basedpublication system 202 that presents product description information forat least one of the associated uncategorized items available forpurchase within the network-based publication system 202. For example,the container page module 450 may cause the container-based productpurchase page (e.g., pages 100 or 150) to display product descriptioninformation for a featured item that is associated with the containerand product description information for at least one additional itemthat is associated with the container.

A featured item may be an item associated with the container that isselected based on a variety of factors, such as a likelihood of a userpurchasing the featured item, a time period within which the item hasbeen available via the publication system 202, and so on. As describedherein, the container page module 450 may perform a variety of differentselection processes when selecting an item as a featured item orotherwise selecting an item associated with the container to bedisplayed by the container-based product purchase page. Exampleprocesses performed by the container page module 450 include:

randomly selecting an item that is associated with the container andcausing the container-based product purchase page to display productdescription information for the randomly selected item;

selecting an item associated with the container having a title that is abest match to the generated title for the container and causing thecontainer-based product purchase page to display product descriptioninformation for the selected item;

selecting an item associated with the container that is based at alocation that is similar to a location of a viewer of thecontainer-based product purchase page and causing the container-basedproduct purchase page to display product description information for theselected item;

selecting an item associated with the container that has not beendisplayed within the network-based publication system within a certaintime period and causing the container-based product purchase page todisplay product description information for the selected item; and soon.

In some example embodiments, the container page module 450 may maintainthe container-based product purchase page within the network-basedpublication system 202 until a number of uncategorized items associatedwith the container is below a threshold number for maintaining acontainer-based product purchase page within the network-basedpublication system. For example, the container page module 450 maymaintain a page for a certain container until one or fewer similar itemsare associated with the container, among other things.

As an example, FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate example product purchase pagesfor a container. FIG. 7A depicts a first product purchase page 700 for acontainer entitled “Soccer Cleats Adidas,” as displayed by the URL 705for the page 700. Similar to other container-based product purchasepages described herein (e.g., 100 or 150), the first product purchasepage 700 includes a graphical element 710 for a featured item that isassociated with the container, entitled “Adidas F50 Soccer Cleats BlackRed White,” and a user-selectable element 720 that facilitates thepresentation of additional information for other items associated withthe container.

The first product purchase page 700 also includes graphical UI elementsfor various different items associated with the container, such as agraphical element 730 that presents product description information foran associated item entitled “Black Adidas Size 9 Soccer Cleats,” agraphical element 732 that presents product description information foran associated item entitled “Adidas Girls Red Cleats Size 7 New,” and agraphical element 734 that presents product description information foran associated item entitled “Adidas Adipure Cleats Blue.”

FIG. 7B depicts a second product purchase page 750 for the containerentitled “Soccer Cleats Adidas,” as displayed by the URL 755 for thepage 750. The second product purchase page 750 is similar to the firstproduct purchase page 700, and includes the graphical element 710 forthe featured item that is associated with the container, entitled“Adidas F50 Soccer Cleats Black Red White,” and the user-selectableelement 720 that facilitates the presentation of additional informationfor other items associated with the container.

The second product purchase page 700 also includes graphical UI elementsfor items associated with the container that were not displayed by thefirst product purchase page 700, such as a graphical element 760 thatpresents product description information for an associated item entitled“Adidas Turf Cleats Size 10 Red Black,” and a graphical element 762 thatpresents product description information for an associated item entitled“Neoride Adidas Boys Cleats Neon.”

Thus, in some example embodiments, the container page engine 340 and/orthe container page module 450 may generate a title for a container ofuncategorized items available for purchase within the network-basedpublication system 202, associate two or more uncategorized itemsavailable for purchase within the network-based publication system 202to the container based on a comparison of titles of the two or moreuncategorized items and the generated title for the container ofuncategorized items, cause a display of a container-based productpurchase page within the network-based publication system 202 that isassociated with the container and that presents a first configuration ofproduct description information for uncategorized items associated withthe container, determine that a group of uncategorized items associatedwith the container has changed, and cause a display of thecontainer-based product purchase page within the network-basedpublication system 202 that presents a second configuration of productdescription information for the changed group of uncategorized itemsassociated with the container.

Of course, a skilled artisan will appreciate that information may bedisplayed in a variety of different locations on a webpage, such as awebpage for an auction site, an online retailer, and so on, such as amain listings section, a sidebar displaying recommended or preferredproducts, among other things.

Thus, in some example embodiments, the systems and methods describedherein enable the creation and presentation of contained-based productdisplay or purchase pages within the publication system 202, enablingthe publication system 202 to maintain a dedicated location within awebsite (e.g., online retailer) in which various similar uncategorizedproducts may be presented to users of the website, among other things.

Therefore, the systems and methods described herein enable thepublication system 202 to maintain a page for a general category orconcept of items (e.g., a canonical title that groups listings forproducts, irrespective of whether they are associated with products),regardless of the specific items, as long as the items can be associatedwith a container that supports or is otherwise associated with the page.Thus, the publication system 202 maintains the container page whilecurrent items are purchased and removed from the site and/or while newitems are added to the site, facilitating access and/or purchase ofitems within an ever-changing inventory of products of a certaincategory to users of the site, among other benefits.

Examples of Presenting Container Description Information in SearchResults

As described herein, in some example embodiments, the methods andsystems may incorporate and/or include containers and associated itemsduring search and retrieval operations. For example, the publicationsystem 202 may surface and/or return a container page and/or one or moreitems associated with a container of items when a container title orother container description information satisfies a search query forspecific items, among other things. The systems and methods may presenta container title or description and/or selected items from a containeralong with other search results, such as product description informationfor specific items within the publication system.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the container listing engine 330,in some example embodiments. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the containerlisting engine 330 includes a variety of functional modules. One skilledin the art will appreciate that the functional modules are implementedwith a combination of software (e.g., executable instructions, orcomputer code) and hardware (e.g., at least a memory and processor).Accordingly, as used herein, in some example embodiments a module is aprocessor-implemented module and represents a computing device having aprocessor that is at least temporarily configured and/or programmed byexecutable instructions stored in memory to perform one or more of theparticular functions that are described herein. Referring to FIG. 8, thecontainer listing engine 330 includes a search query module 810, acontainer identification module 820, and an item selection module 830.

In some example embodiments, the search query module 810 is configuredand/or programmed to access a search query received by the network-basedpublication system 202. For example, the search query module 810 mayaccess one or more queries received by the searching engine 308 of thepublication system 202.

In some example embodiments, the container identification module 820 isconfigured and/or programmed to identify a container of uncategorizeditems having a title that satisfies the search query. For example, thecontainer identification module 820 may match keywords of the searchquery to one or more titles associated with containers in order toidentify a container or containers that satisfy the search query.

In some example embodiments, the item selection module 830 is configuredand/or programmed to return a result for the search query that isassociated with the identified container. For example, the itemselection module 830 may return a result of a product purchase page foran uncategorized item associated with the identified container and/or aresult of a container-based product purchase page associated with theidentified container, among other results. In some example embodiments,the returned result may include, present, and/or display an indicatorthat the uncategorized item is associated with the identified container.

In some example embodiments, the item selection module 830 may perform avariety of different selection processes when determining an item (e.g.,a representative item) associated with a container to return as a resultfor a search query. Example processes include:

determining a match score for each uncategorized item associated withthe identified container, adjusting the match score for eachuncategorized item based on a comparison of the uncategorized item tothe search query, and returning a result of a product purchase page foran uncategorized item having a best adjusted match score;

determining a match score for each uncategorized item associated withthe identified container, and returning a result of a product purchasepage for an uncategorized item having a best match score;

randomly selecting an uncategorized item associated with the identifiedcontainer, and returning a result of a product purchase page for therandomly selected uncategorized item;

selecting an uncategorized item associated with the identified containerthat has not been published by the network-based publication systemwithin a certain time period, and

returning a result of a product purchase page for the selecteduncategorized item;

selecting an uncategorized item associated with the identified containerthat has been associated with the identified container for apredetermined time period, and returning a result of a product purchasepage for the selected uncategorized item; and so on.

Thus, as described herein, in some example embodiments, the publicationsystem 202 may incorporate container description information (e.g., acontainer title) and/or product description information selected itemsassociated with a container within published search results identifyingproducts that satisfy received search queries, among other things. Forexample, the searching engine 208, which enables keyword queries oflistings published via the publication system 202, may receive keywordqueries from a computing device associated with a user (e.g., clientmachine 206 or 208) and conduct a review of a storage device storinglisting information. The review will enable compilation of a result setof listings that may be sorted and returned to the client device of theuser. The result set may include various listings, including one or morelistings associated with a container of items, such as a container titledescribed herein.

By providing container titles and other product description informationwithin listings, the publication system 202 may avoid cases where agroup of listings are mostly duplicates of similar items. For example,by listing container descriptions, the publication system 202 maycompress a large inventory of items into search results, because aresult having container description information represents a set orgroup of similar and/or duplicate products associated with a container.The publication system 202, therefore, may render a search results pagewith a diverse set of products, by providing container descriptions aslistings within the search results page, among other things.

Thus, in some example embodiments, the publication system 202 mayprovide container titles to a search index of the searching engine 308.The searching engine 308, in response to a received query, may return aresult that includes the container title, and present one or morelistings associated with representative products of the container withina search results page, among other things.

As described herein, in some example embodiments, the container listingengine 330 may perform various methods and/or processes when providingcontainer-based results in response to search queries and/or otherrequests received by the publication system 202, such as by thesearching engine 308, among other things. FIG. 9 is a flow diagramillustrating a method 900 for satisfying a search query with a containerresult, in some example embodiments. The method 900 may be performed bythe container listing engine 330 and, accordingly, is described hereinmerely by way of reference thereto. It will be appreciated that themethod 900 may be performed on any suitable hardware.

In operation 910, the container listing engine 330 accesses a searchquery received by a network-based publication system. For example, thesearch query module 810 may access one or more queries received by thesearching engine 308 of the publication system 202.

In operation 920, the container listing engine 330 identifies acontainer of uncategorized items having a title that satisfies thesearch query. For example, the container identification module 820 maymatch keywords of the search query to one or more titles associated withcontainers in order to identify a container or containers that satisfythe search query.

In operation 930, the container listing engine 330 returns a result forthe search query that is associated with the identified container. Forexample, the item selection module 830 may return a result of a productpurchase page for an uncategorized item associated with the identifiedcontainer and/or a result of a container-based product purchase pageassociated with the identified container, among other results. In someexample embodiments, the returned result may include, present, and/ordisplay an indicator that the uncategorized item is associated with theidentified container.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 1000 for selecting anuncategorized item to display within results of a query, in some exampleembodiments. The method 1000 may be performed by the container listingengine 330 and, accordingly, is described herein merely by way ofreference thereto. It will be appreciated that the method 1000 may beperformed on any suitable hardware.

In operation 1010, the container listing engine 330 determines a matchscore for each uncategorized item associated with the identifiedcontainer. For example, the container listing engine 330 may tokenize acontainer title and identify a number of tokens within the title (e.g.,6 or more tokens) to be used when matching description information(e.g., titles) for items to the title of the container, in order tocalculate and/or determine a match score for each of the items.

In operation 1020, the container listing engine 330 adjusts the matchscore for each uncategorized item based on a comparison of theuncategorized item to the search query. For example, the containerlisting engine 330 may adjust the match score based on a comparison ofkeywords within the search query to the words of the titles for each ofthe items. In operation 1030, the container listing engine 330 returns aresult of a product purchase page for an uncategorized item having abest adjusted match score.

FIG. 11 is a display diagram illustrating a product results page 1100that includes a listing associated with a container of uncategorizeditems, in some example embodiments. The product results page 1100displays a variety of results 1110 for items that match a search query1105 of “tablet cover,” as well as result 1120 that is associated with acontainer page for a container of associated, uncategorized items. Inorder to identify the result 1120 as a result associated with acontainer of items, the result 1120 includes a symbol 1125 thatindicates the result represents the container of items.

In some example embodiments, the container listing engine 330 maygenerate, modify, and/or configure a product purchase page associatedwith a container based on an accessed search query. For example, thecontainer listing engine 330 may access a search query received by anetwork-based publication system, identify a container of uncategorizeditems having a title that satisfies the search query, generate acontainer-based product purchase page associated with the identifiedcontainer that includes a configuration based on the search query, andreturn a result for the search query that is associated with thegenerated container-based product purchase page having the configurationbased on the search query. The configuration may include certain itemshaving titles that best match the search query, certain items atlocations associated with a location of a user providing the searchquery, and so on.

Therefore, the publication system 202 may surface items, products,containers, and/or other groupings (e.g., categories, concepts, and soon) of uncategorized products or items within search results, in orderto provide a diverse set of results in response to a search queryreceived by the publication system 202, enabling users of thepublication system 202 to encounter and obtain information for a varietyof different products that may satisfy a search query, among otherbenefits.

Examples of Building Containers of Items at Multiple Network-BasedLocations

As described herein, in some example embodiments, the container engine312 may build containers and/or publish container-based product purchasepages for items available for purchase at a variety of different and/ordiverse locations over a network, among other things. For example, thecontainer engine 312 may be part of an application or “app” (e.g.,programmatic client 212) that brokers purchases of items between buyersusing the app to locate and purchase items from a variety of locationsand sellers using the app to publish their items to be purchased by thebuyers.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a network architecture 1200 of asuitable computing environment for building and displaying containers ofuncategorized items at multiple networked locations, in some exampleembodiments. The network architecture 1200 includes a variety ofretailers in communication with buyers over a network 1220, such as anonline retailer 1210, an online broker 1212, an online exchange 1214, anindividual seller device 1216, and so on. The various selling locations1210-1216 may publish items available for purchase via an app 1250 orother mechanism, which is utilized by a buyer via a buyer device 1240,such as a mobile device (e.g., a smart phone, tablet computer, laptop,and so on). The app 1250, which facilitates the exchange of informationbetween buyers and sellers at the multiple locations, similar to thepublication system 202 described herein, may be associated with an itemaggregation system 1230 that aggregates information for available itemsat the various locations 1210-1216, builds containers for the items, andgenerates pages to be displayed by the app 1250 in order to facilitatethe access and purchase of the items by the buyers, among other things.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating the item aggregation system1230, in some example embodiments. As illustrated in FIG. 13, the itemaggregation system 1230 includes a variety of functional modules. Oneskilled in the art will appreciate that the functional modules areimplemented with a combination of software (e.g., executableinstructions, or computer code) and hardware (e.g., at least a memoryand processor). Accordingly, as used herein, in some example embodimentsa module is a processor-implemented module and represents a computingdevice having a processor that is at least temporarily configured and/orprogrammed by executable instructions stored in memory to perform one ormore of the particular functions that are described herein. Referring toFIG. 13, the item aggregation system 1230 includes an item requestmodule 1310, an information collection module 1320, a containergeneration module 1330, and a publication module 1340.

In some example embodiments, the item request module 1310 is configuredand/or programmed to access a search request for items available forpurchase via a network-based location. The item request module 1310 mayaccess a search request received by the searching engine 308 or othersimilar engine provided by the app 1250. For example, the app 1250 mayreceive a search request for available items from a user associated withthe buyer device 1240.

In some example embodiments, the information collection module 1320 isconfigured and/or programmed to collect information associated withavailable items having product description information satisfying thesearch request and located at multiple network-based locations. Forexample, the information collection module 1320 may collect informationfrom at least one online retailer (e.g., online retailer 1210) and atleast one online broker of items (e.g., broker 1212) and/or collectinformation from at least one online retailer (e.g., online retailer1210) and at least one individual seller (e.g., a user associated withseller device 1216), among other scenarios.

In some example embodiments, the container generation module 1330 isconfigured and/or programmed to determine one or more containers thatassociate items available for purchase based on the collectedinformation. The container generation module 1330 may generate titlesfor the one or more containers based on the titles of the availableitems at the various locations, based on keywords of the search request,and so on. For example, the container generation module 1330 may includevarious modules of the container generation engine 320, including thetitle determination module 420, which generates titles for the one ormore containers based on the collected information and/or the searchrequest, and the item association module 430, which associates theavailable items to the one or more containers based on a comparison oftitles of the available items and the generated titles for the one ormore containers, as described herein.

In some example embodiments, the container generation module 1330 maydynamically determine the one or more containers in response to thesearch query. For example, the container generation module 1330 maydynamically determine the one or more containers based on a number ofitems available for purchase via the multiple network-based locations atthe time of a received search request, based on a number of itemsavailable for purchase via the multiple network-based locations that areassociated with product description information that satisfies thesearch request, and so on.

In some example embodiments, the publication module 1340 is configuredand/or programmed to publish a result for the search request that isbased on the determined containers. For example, the publication module1340 may publish a result for the search request that includes at leastone listing representative of a determined container, such as a listingincluding a title for the container and number of items associated withthe container, and/or a listing including a title for the container, anumber of items associated with the container, and a number of itemsassociated with the container at a location from which the searchrequest was received, among other things.

In some example embodiments, the publication module 1340 may publish alist of information representative of the determined one or morecontainers that is ranked according to a number of items associated witheach container, and/or publish a result for the search request thatincludes a listing presenting product description information for acontainer of items and a listing presenting product descriptioninformation for an individual item, among other things.

As described herein, the item aggregation system 1230 may perform avariety of methods and/or processes in order to publish a listing ofsimilar items available for purchase at multiple different locationsover a network, among other things. FIG. 14 is a flow diagramillustrating a method for publishing a listing of available items, insome example embodiments. The method 1400 may be performed by the itemaggregation system 1230 and, accordingly, is described herein merely byway of reference thereto. It will be appreciated that the method 1400may be performed on any suitable hardware.

In operation 1410, the item aggregation system 1230 accesses a searchrequest for items available for purchase via a network-based location.For example, the item request module 1310 may access a search requestreceived by the searching engine 308 or other similar engine provided bythe app 1250, such as a search request for available items received froma user associated with the buyer device 1240.

In operation 1420, the item aggregation system 1230 collects informationassociated with available items having product description informationsatisfying the search request and located at multiple network-basedlocations. For example, the information collection module 1320 maycollect information from at least one online retailer (e.g., onlineretailer 1210) and at least one online broker of items (e.g., broker1212) and/or collect information from at least one online retailer(e.g., online retailer 1210) and at least one individual seller (e.g., auser associated with seller device 1216), among other scenarios.

In operation 1430, the item aggregation system 1230 determines one ormore containers that associate items available for purchase based on thecollected information. For example, the container generation module 1330may generate titles for the one or more containers based on the titlesof the available items at the various locations, based on keywords ofthe search request, and so on. The container generation module 1330 mayinclude various modules of the container generation engine 320,including the title determination module 420, which generates titles forthe one or more containers based on the collected information and/or thesearch request, and the item association module 430, which associatesthe available items to the one or more containers based on a comparisonof titles of the available items and the generated titles for the one ormore containers, as described herein.

In operation 1440, the item aggregation system 1230 publishes a resultfor the search request that is based on the determined containers. Forexample, the publication module 1340 may publish a result for the searchrequest that includes at least one listing representative of adetermined container, such as a listing including a title for thecontainer and a number of items associated with the container, and/or alisting including a title for the container, a number of itemsassociated with the container, and a number of items associated with thecontainer at a location from which the search request was received,among other things.

FIG. 15 is a display diagram illustrating a results page 1500 thatincludes a listing associated with a container of uncategorized itemsfrom multiple networked locations, in some example embodiments. Theresults page 1500 displays various container-based results for areceived query 1505 of “baby carriers.” The results page 1500, which isconfigured to display the results via a user interface of a mobiledevice, displays various user selectable graphical elements 1510-1550that present description information for containers of items that havetitles that satisfy the search query 1505.

For example, the results page 1500 includes a user-selectable element1510 that presents description information for a container entitled“moby baby wrap,” including information identifying a number of itemsassociated with the container (e.g., “100+”), a number of items local toa user that provided the search query, and so on. The results page alsoincludes a user-selectable element 1560 that, when selected, facilitatesthe display of additional containers, among other things.

Thus, in some example embodiments, the item aggregation system 1230builds containers, concepts, or other categories of uncategorized itemsavailable for purchase at various different and/or diverse locations orsites over a network, enabling a mobile application or other publicationsystem to display listings of available items without displayingredundant or virtually identical items as separate listings,facilitating users of the application to access and/or find items ofinterest quickly and efficiently, among other benefits.

FIG. 16 shows a diagrammatic representation of machine in the exemplaryform of a computer system 1600 within which a set of instructions, forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, may be executed. In alternative embodiments, themachine operates as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g.,networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine mayoperate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in server-clientnetwork environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (ordistributed) network environment. The machine may be a server computer,a client computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box(STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a webappliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable ofexecuting a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specifyactions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a singlemachine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken toinclude any collection of machines that individually or jointly executea set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more ofthe methodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 1600 includes a processor 1602 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) orboth), a main memory 1604 and a static memory 1606, which communicatewith each other via a bus 1608. The computer system 1600 may furtherinclude a video display unit 1610 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD)or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 1600 also includes analphanumeric input device 1612 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 1614 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 1616, a signal generationdevice 1618 (e.g., a speaker) and a network interface device 1620.

The disk drive unit 1616 includes a machine-readable medium 1622 onwhich is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 1624)embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein. The software 1624 may also reside, completely or at leastpartially, within the main memory 1604 and/or within the processor 1602during execution thereof by the computer system 1600, the main memory1604 and the processor 1602 also constituting machine-readable media.The software 1624 may further be transmitted or received over a network1626 via the network interface device 1620.

While the machine-readable medium 1622 is shown in an exemplaryembodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium”should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches andservers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term“machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium thatis capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions forexecution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any oneor more of the methodologies of the present disclosure. The term“machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but notbe limited to, solid-state memories, optical and magnetic media, andother storage media.

Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a numberof components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules may constitute eithersoftware modules (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readable medium or ina transmission signal) or hardware modules. A “hardware module” is atangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain physical manner. In various exampleembodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone computersystem, a client computer system, or a server computer system) or one ormore hardware modules of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a groupof processors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application orapplication portion) as a hardware module that operates to performcertain operations as described herein.

In some embodiments, a hardware module may be implemented mechanically,electronically, or any suitable combination thereof. For example, ahardware module may include dedicated circuitry or logic that ispermanently configured to perform certain operations. For example, ahardware module may be a special-purpose processor, such as a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC). A hardware module may also include programmable logic orcircuitry that is temporarily configured by software to perform certainoperations. For example, a hardware module may include softwareencompassed within a general-purpose processor or other programmableprocessor. It will be appreciated that the decision to implement ahardware module mechanically, in dedicated and permanently configuredcircuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured bysoftware) may be driven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the phrase “hardware module” should be understood toencompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or toperform certain operations described herein. As used herein,“hardware-implemented module” refers to a hardware module. Consideringembodiments in which hardware modules are temporarily configured (e.g.,programmed), each of the hardware modules need not be configured orinstantiated at any one instance in time. For example, where a hardwaremodule comprises a general-purpose processor configured by software tobecome a special-purpose processor, the general-purpose processor may beconfigured as respectively different special-purpose processors (e.g.,comprising different hardware modules) at different times. Software mayaccordingly configure a processor, for example, to constitute aparticular hardware module at one instance of time and to constitute adifferent hardware module at a different instance of time.

Hardware modules can provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware modules. Accordingly, the described hardwaremodules may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multiplehardware modules exist contemporaneously, communications may be achievedthrough signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses)between or among two or more of the hardware modules. In embodiments inwhich multiple hardware modules are configured or instantiated atdifferent times, communications between such hardware modules may beachieved, for example, through the storage and retrieval of informationin memory structures to which the multiple hardware modules have access.For example, one hardware module may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware module may then, at a latertime, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware modules may also initiate communications with input oroutput devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation).

Although the present disclosure has been described with reference tospecific exemplary embodiments, it may be evident that variousmodifications and changes may be made to these embodiments withoutdeparting from the broader spirit and scope of the disclosure.Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

The accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, show by way ofillustration, and not of limitation, specific embodiments in which thesubject matter may be practiced. The embodiments illustrated aredescribed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the teachings disclosed herein. Other embodiments may beutilized and derived therefrom, such that structural and logicalsubstitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scopeof this disclosure. This Detailed Description, therefore, is not to betaken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various embodiments isdefined only by the appended claims, along with the full range ofequivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description.

The preceding technical disclosure is intended to be illustrative, andnot restrictive. For example, the above-described embodiments (or one ormore aspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. Otherembodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewingthe above description.

In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patentdocuments, to include one or more than one. In this document, the term“or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that “A or B” includes“A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unless otherwise indicated.Furthermore, all publications, patents, and patent documents referred toin this document are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety,as though individually incorporated by reference. In the event ofinconsistent usages between this document and those documents soincorporated by reference, the usage in the incorporated reference(s)should be considered supplementary to that of this document; forirreconcilable inconsistencies, the usage in this document controls.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a title information modulethat is configured to collect information from titles of items availablefor purchase within a network-based publication system; a titledetermination module that is configured to generate a title for acontainer of uncategorized items available for purchase within thenetwork-based publication system that is based on the collectedinformation; and an item association module that is configured toassociate two or more uncategorized items available for purchase withinthe network-based publication system to the container based on acomparison of titles of the two or more uncategorized items and thegenerated title for the container of uncategorized items.
 2. The systemof claim 1, wherein the item association module is configured toassociate an uncategorized item to the container when a title for theuncategorized item includes a number of token words that match words ofthe generated title for the container that is above a threshold numberfor associating items to containers.
 3. The system of claim 1, whereinthe item association module is configured to associate an uncategorizeditem to the container when a percentage of token words of a title forthe uncategorized item matching words of the generated title for thecontainer is above a threshold percentage for associating items tocontainers.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the title determinationmodule is configured to generate a title for a container ofuncategorized items available for purchase within the network-basedpublication system based on contents of search queries received by thenetwork-based publication system.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein thetitle determination module is configured to generate a title for acontainer of uncategorized items available for purchase within thenetwork-based publication system based on contents of search queriesreceived by the network-based publication system and based on a numberof uncategorized items available for purchase to be associated to thecontainer.
 6. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a containerlinking module that is configured to link the container to a secondcontainer within the network-based publication system based on acomparison of titles of the container and the second container.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the title information module is configured tobuild a dictionary of titles from the titles of items available forpurchase within the network-based publication system; and wherein thetitle determination module is configured to generate the title for thecontainer based on, but different than, the titles of the itemsavailable for purchase within the network-based publication system. 8.The system of claim 1, wherein the title information module isconfigured to build a dictionary of titles from contents of searchqueries received by the network-based publication system; and whereinthe title determination module is configured to generate the title forthe container based on the contents of the search queries received bythe network-based publication system.
 9. The system of claim 1, whereinthe title information module is configured to collect information fromtitles of items available for purchase at multiple network-basedpublication systems.
 10. A computer-implemented method, comprising:collecting information from titles of items available for purchasewithin a network-based publication system; generating a title for acontainer of uncategorized items available for purchase within thenetwork-based publication system that is based on the collectedinformation; and associating two or more uncategorized items availablefor purchase within the network-based publication system to thecontainer based on a comparison of titles of the two or moreuncategorized items and the generated title for the container ofuncategorized items.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein associating twoor more uncategorized items available for purchase within thenetwork-based publication system to the container includes associatingan uncategorized item to the container when a title for theuncategorized item includes a number of token words that match words ofthe generated title for the container that is above a threshold numberfor associating items to containers.
 12. The method of claim 10, whereinassociating two or more uncategorized items available for purchasewithin the network-based publication system to the container includesassociating an uncategorized item to the container when a percentage oftoken words of a title for the uncategorized item matching words of thegenerated title for the container is above a threshold percentage forassociating items to containers.
 13. The method of claim 10, whereingenerating a title for a container of uncategorized items available forpurchase within the network-based publication system includes generatingthe title for the container of uncategorized items available forpurchase within the network-based publication system based on contentsof search queries received by the network-based publication system. 14.The method of claim 10, wherein generating a title for a container ofuncategorized items available for purchase within the network-basedpublication system includes generating the title for the container ofuncategorized items available for purchase within the network-basedpublication system based on contents of search queries received by thenetwork-based publication system and based on a number of uncategorizeditems available for purchase to be associated to the container.
 15. Themethod of claim 10, further comprising: linking the container to asecond container within the network-based publication system based on acomparison of titles of the container and the second container.
 16. Themethod of claim 10, wherein collecting information from titles of itemsavailable for purchase within a network-based publication systemincludes building a dictionary of titles from the titles of itemsavailable for purchase within a network-based publication system; andwherein generating a title for a container of uncategorized itemsavailable for purchase within the network-based publication systemincludes generating the title for the container based on, but differentthan, the titles of the items available for purchase within thenetwork-based publication system.
 17. The method of claim 10, whereincollecting information from titles of items available for purchasewithin a network-based publication system includes building a dictionaryof titles from contents of search queries received by the network-basedpublication system; and wherein generating a title for a container ofuncategorized items available for purchase within the network-basedpublication system includes generating the title for the container basedon the contents of the search queries received by the network-basedpublication system.
 18. The method of claim 10, wherein collectinginformation from titles of items available for purchase within anetwork-based publication system includes collecting information fromtitles of items available for purchase at multiple network-basedpublication systems.
 19. A computer-readable storage medium whosecontents, when executed by a computing system, cause the computingsystem to perform operations comprising: collecting information fromtitles of items available for purchase within a network-basedpublication system; collecting information from search queries receivedby the network-based publication system; generating a title for acontainer of uncategorized items available for purchase within thenetwork-based publication system based on the collected information; andassociating two or more uncategorized items available for purchasewithin the network-based publication system to the container based on acomparison of titles of the two or more uncategorized items and thegenerated title for the container of uncategorized items.
 20. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 19, further comprising:displaying a container page within the network-based publication systemthat includes description information for at least one of theuncategorized items associated with the container.